CHEMISTRY?
by pen cubed
Summary: Kaoru is the brightest student to have attended Tokyo IT, destined to become great in chemistry. She is joined by a Kenshin, a strange genius. Together, they work for new discoveries... but is there more chemistry going on than just in the laboratory?
1. Chapter 1

**CHEMISTRY?**

CHAPTER ONE

"It's all done, Professor Takani."

Kaoru Kamiya put the last of the flasks into the cabinet, and pulled off her goggles and lab coat. "The lab today was a success, we finally got the proper controls to recreate Millikan's experiment. Now we can finally demonstrate it to first years in chem101, I'm excited to show them!"

Megumi Takani smiled. "Thank you so much, Kaoru. In all my years of teaching, I have never encountered a student with as much knowledge, enthusiasm, and creativity for the subject."

Kaoru laughed as she retrieved her backpack from the locker. "Well, I've always had an interest. Watch out, Professor, someday I might take your place here at the university!"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Megumi said while glancing at her watch. "Kaoru, it's almost nine, and you've been here since the morning without leaving. Would you like to go out for some udon?"

"Nah, it's okay," Kaoru smiled. "I still have some reading to complete before biology tomorrow, I'll grab something back at the dorm. See you tomorrow!"

Megumi smiled as Kaoru bounded out of the lab. "I wouldn't be surprised if that girl went great lengths someday."

* * *

Kaoru bounded across the campus of Tokyo Institute of Technology, where she was triple majoring in chemistry, biology, and quantum physics. Regarded by many of her professors as the brightest student to attend since the institute was established 140 years ago, she had already been offered positions for after her graduation two years later at MIT, Princeton, and Cornell. Though technically only a junior undergraduate in age, she had surpassed all her peers and was already working on her doctorate degrees.

Despite this, her intellect had made her an outsider. Throughout high school, she had been shunned for her high grades and outstanding test scores. In the halls, jealous peers cruelly sneered at her for her accomplishments, and were often jeered when she competed in her school's kendo competitions. Even when she gave her valedictorian speech at her high school graduation, her peers still held the grudge: though the audience clapped, the entire student body booed her as she walked off.

There was only one person in the world who understood her: Misao Makimachi, her childhood friend, fellow chemistry enthusiast, and roommate.

"KAORUUU…" Misao glanced up from her textbook, sitting cross-legged on her bed, eyebrows furrowed. "Did you get too carried away at the lab again? You know I promised Gramps I wouldn't let you get too carried away!"

Kaoru laughed, putting away her things. "Sorry. Gosh it's late, I'm hungry, I'm going to go out for a bite to eat."

"No need." Misao pointed to a little pink bento on Kaoru's desk. "I stopped by Quickly and got you some dinner."

"Wow, pepper chicken, my favorite!" Kaoru gleefully separated her chopsticks and dug in. "Mmm, I haven't had this in ages. I love you so much, have I told you?"

Misao laughed heartily. "Only every other day. Hey have I told you about that teacher's aid of professor Saitou?"

"Yeah, only every time I see you. Aoshi-sama, was he? Hottest piece of man in a lab coat you've ever seen, eh? Oh and that if you were in a room with him you would first stroke his hair and then bite his ear and then…"

A pillow struck Kaoru on the head. "Shut up, I get it! But seriously, Aoshi is so cool. He's like this ice block that just melts my heart!"

"Eww, that's really cheesy."

"Yeah I know. Hey Kaoru…"

Kaoru looked up from her chicken. "Let me guess: Aoshi is so smart, he graduated three years early? Or is it that Aoshi is so talented, he is an expert swordsman?"

"None of that!" Misao protested, flustered, "although it is true. I wanted to ask you… why don't you ever get out? I mean, you're already working on your doctorate."

"I happen to like this, Misao. I find the sciences exciting."

"But Kaoru, you've never been to a party, you've never been to a club, you've never even spent more than an hour at the mall. You don't go to hair salons or get manicures with the girls, you never dress up prettily, nor do you read magazines or watch television shows."

"I don't need those petty things to amuse me."

"But…"

Kaoru stopped Misao. "Misao, you've known me for so long, you know I don't enjoy things like those; they just bore me. No more arguing! I've got to finish fifty more pages of text before the bio lecture tomorrow."

Misao grinned in defeat. "Fine, fine, I won't press it. Just know that one of these days I will bring you over to the dark side! … oh and before you start reading, can you help me with these organics?"

* * *

Megumi Takani sipped her tea in her realm, the laboratory. Bright sunshine flew in the windows, illuminating the shiny black tables and shimmering glass flasks. It seemed unusually quiet today; she glanced at the clock. Ah, the peace is to end…

A fireball of energy suddenly burst in. "Professor Takani, I'm so sorry for being tardy," Kaoru said as she blasted through the chemistry laboratory door. "I was held late because the lecture was extra long." She donned her well-worn lab coat and goggles. "So should we set up for the oil drop experiment for your next lecture? Or have you done that already, I could probably work on the large-size scale of the cathode ray tube, I think if we supercharge the magnet maybe we could – "

Megumi Takani smiled. "Kaoru, slow down. I actually have a few things I need to talk to you about."

Kaoru blinked, then sat on a lab stool. "Professor?"

"Firstly, I'd actually rather you just call me Megumi, as that you're more of my peer than my student," she said smiling. "I haven't actually had you in my class, since you transferred out of my Chem101 class half an hour into the first lesson."

Kaoru smiled sheepishly. "Eh, sorry about that… Professor… Megumi?"

Megumi laughed. "We'll work on that. Anyways, to the real matter… I see that at the rate you're going, your doctorate will be complete in about a year and a half, two years maybe?"

"Yes, I've been completing all the courses Principal Hiko maintained that I take, and I've been brainstorming ideas for my research."

"Wow, you sound quite busy these days."

"Not really, all my courses are extremely simple, and I have a lot of time left for my project. What's on your mind, Professor Takani… er, Megumi?"

"Well, you see, I was wondering if you could help out with this undergrad I have…"

"No problem! Does she need tutoring? I'm free many days."

"No, it's not that… this student, what he needs is more of… oh, I don't know, an inspiration."

"Inspiration?' Kaoru grinned. "I've never heard that out of a subject like chemistry. Go on?"

"His name is Kenshin Himura. He's a freshman undergrad, but he's actually about a year older than you, since he took off for a trip to Europe after he graduated high school."

"Sounds like an interesting character," Kaoru smiled. "But what about this inspiration?"

"Himura was a science prodigy in his youth. He had finished first year college level courses by the age of twelve, and when he was fifteen he successfully created Californium."

"FIFTEEN? Then…"

"For some mysterious reason, though, after the tragic death of his parents, he seemed to relate it to the sciences and shunned it ever since. In Europe, he studied languages; I believe he now fluently speaks French, Spanish, Italian, German, as well as immaculate English. But now he's enrolled at Tokyo Tech, majoring in chemistry, and despite this major he is failing my Chem101 class. He just doesn't seem to try."

"So… where do I come in?"

"Remember your first day in my class, when I pulled you out after you started making references to experiments and theories even I had trouble with?"

Kaoru grinned sheepishly. "Right."

"I know genius when I see one, and this Himura kid is one. I thought that perhaps associating with a peer like yourself, he would once again find his interest in the subject."

Kaoru grinned. "Of course! I'd do anything to help, and you know how much I love doing this."

"That's great!" Megumi smiled. "When are you free? Is 4 pm tomorrow at the school library okay?"

"Sure, tell Kenshin Himura I will meet him near the physics section, I needed to do some research there anyways." Kaoru smiled. "Don't worry, if there's even a bit of interest in this subject I'll draw it out of him."

* * *

Kaoru was deeply engrossed in her readings of time dilation when she felt a small tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me, are you Kaoru Kamiya?"

Kaoru turned her head quickly to the right; unfortunately, her long, thick ponytail flew like a whip and hit the speaker square in the face.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry, you surprised me, I am so so sorry…"

The young man who spoke to her began to laugh. "I never expected to get slapped by a girl so soon into the relationship!"

Kaoru blushed four shades of red. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry…"

He smiled kindly, and Kaoru felt herself burn even redder as he matched his large violet eyes to hers. "It's alright, it was just an accident of course. Anyways, are you Kaoru Kamiya?"

"Yes, I am. And you are…"

"My name is Kenshin, Kenshin Himura."

Kaoru recalled the name with a jolt. "Ooohhh, I remember!" She took a careful look at him: he was short, though taller than her; lean, dressed in baggy jeans and a loose black sweatshirt; he had a head of shockingly red hair, which he grew long and tied back loosely in a ponytail. He looked like one of the many boys on the campus who liked to have fun, play video games, and slack off while smoking marijuana next to the local 7-11.

Somehow, she just couldn't see the prodigy.

"Well," she said, her enthusiasm stifled a bit, "it's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

The two stared at each other awkwardly in silence, before Kaoru broke it with a cough. "Well, Kenshin, is there anything you'd like to do or something… review your chemistry homework?"

At the word chemistry itself, though, he stiffened. His easygoing manner disappeared, and his smiling violet eyes became hard and a shade of goldenrod. "I don't do the homework."

"But…" Kaoru took one look at his angry eyes and decided not to press the matter of homework. "Would you like for me to explain concepts to you?"

"You underestimate me, Miss Kamiya," he said, voice dangerously slow now.

What had happened to the nice, warm man she had met only seconds before? She wanted to run out of the library and have nothing more to do with him, but forced herself to smile instead. _Professor is counting on me. Don't give up. Don't give up._ "Well," she quickly went on, masking her discomfort with a cheery smile, "why don't we go to the lab, I have a really great experiment to show you, and then maybe we can do something else, yeah?"

"Sure, whatever." Kenshin strode away coldly, going towards the exit without another look at Kaoru.

Kaoru followed closely. "My god," she whispered to herself, "what have I gotten myself into?"

End Chapter

Author's Notes: I do realize I use some chemistry jargon. I have no idea if I use them in the right context; hopefully I do, haha.

Also, I could probably break out in faux-Japanese. "Konnichiwa, Takani-sensei, I'd love to go out for some unagi and sashimi … ara! Watashi wa pan o tabemasu!" … but I won't. XD So all names are spoken in the English way., and the events are western, etcetc, k:


	2. Chapter 2

**CHEMISTRY?**

CHAPTER 2

Kaoru had to run to keep up with Kenshin's long and quick stride. She chased after him all across campus, with other college students staring in shock, wondering why the much-talked about bookworm was suddenly chasing after a hooligan-looking boy.

Right about when she caught up to him, he suddenly stopped. She crashed into his back head on. "Oh my gosh, I'm sorry."

He didn't even seem to flinch; instead, he turned around and crossed his arms. "Okay, we're here. You lead."

In her rush, she hadn't even realized they had reached the chemistry department building. "Right," she said, trying to mask her increasing nervousness. "Right this way…"

She led him to the third floor, right to Megumi Takani's room, hoping that she would be there to distract Kenshin and his sharp glare… but as luck would have it, she was greeted by a post-it on the door: "Left early, please email me to find me." Great.

Kaoru opened the door and ushered in a shuffling, sullen Kenshin. He took up a lab stool and sat on it, precariously tilting over as he balanced himself with his elbow. "Okay, Ms. Kaoru Kamiya, what next?"

Kaoru wanted to run out as fast as she could, back to her dormitory and read her books. She had expected a smart peer, who would eagerly discuss chemistry with her. Instead, she got a dull and angry idiot who seemed to be criticizing her at every step. Instead, she walked over to the bookshelf and looked for the familiar lab book. "Yes, well, I'll just… perform a lab…" She quickly turned to the index and searched for an interesting experiment.

Kenshin gave a cynical laugh. "Look, if its another one of those little flame test or gas test things you do, you can just skip it, I've seen it all. You know, I'd have expected more from the smartest chemist all the profs rave about."

Kaoru fumed. "No, don't worry, I have something a little better," she said, and flipped right to the back. "We're going to," she looked at the book, "make LSD."

"I'd like to see that happen," he smirked, "go on."

Make LSD! Kaoru's mind belittled her. Not only do you make a fool of yourself to a stranger, now you're promising to make an illegal drug in front of him? Great, just great. Why is this thing in the book anyways! She flipped to the next page, which gave procedures to create a crystal that liquefied at the slightest touch of body temperature. She was about to suggest that instead, but looked up and saw Kenshin's arrogant, mocking smirk.

Well, illegal drug it was.

She retrieved the apparatus as she talked. "Well, I'll be creating Delysid, which is d-lysergic acid and diethylamide tartrate. Since we have neither of those, we'll have to create it from lesser ingredients." She retrieved a few flasks, and a small bottle. "Well, here I have a bottle of, um, well, Ipomoema pur- pur, em…"

"Ipomoea purpurea."

Kaoru stared at Kenshin; almost nobody, not even her biology professor, knew that term.

"Otherwise known as the common Heavenly Blue variety of morning glory."

As Kaoru stared, Kenshin stood up and continue talking. "However, instead of using the extract of ipomoema purpurea," he said as he closed and threw aside the book, "and creating a weak, half-assed version, we can instead use…" he took out a few bottles from the cabinet. "ergine, isoergine, ergometrine, elymoclavine, and some lysergol."

He brought them over to a lab table, and struck up a match to a bunsen burner. "Wait 'till it gets to 140 degrees Celsius… now we put them together." In a flash, he poured out minute amounts of each substance into a graduated cylinder and put it in a florence flask."

"Now, it will synthesize, but only at a higher temperature." He dug out a chunk of magnesium from a bottle and placed it on the flame. Immediately the fire burst pure white, and Kenshin placed the flask on it. "Now it shall form together, with this catalyst of argon gas," as he turned on a tube of argon and faced it towards the flask."

"And now… we dry it out."

Kaoru could only watch in frozen shock as Kenshin splashed the flask's contents over the lab table. The molten white substane immediately turned into a semi-solidified chalk, and within five minutes became a powder.

Kenshin smirked. "Here you are, Miss Kamiya." He picked up a pinch. "LSD. This much here might give you a buzz."

"How… how…" Kaoru felt lightheaded. "How do you know how to… argon… ergometrine…"

"Tell that Takani woman that I don't need some fancy pants girl to teach me these things." He blew the white powder in his hand towards Kaoru, enveloping the room in a snowy-white dust. "Cheers, Kaoru." With that, he walked out of the lab, slamming the door behind him.

Kaoru stared at the closed door, and then ran out too. "Kenshin! Wait!"

She caught up to him right outside the building. He shot an annoyed look at her. "What now? I told you I don't want you to be so called tutoring me."

"It's not that! It's… it's…"

"What do you want."

"Kenshin," Kaoru said breathily, "let's get together some time and talk nuclear synthesis."

* * *

"…and I was so impressed, I just had to make sure to dig in there and get all that wasted intelligence!"

Misao raised an eyebrow. "That's very nice and all, Kaoru, but um… wasn't this kid some wacko arrogant loser? Or something?"

Kaoru laughed. "Yes, wacko indeed, arrogant too much, loser too, but such genius!" She looked at her watch. "Speaking of this, I should get to Kenshin's dorm now…"

Misao's mouth dropped open. "WHOAAA! You're going over to his DORM?"

Kaoru pettishly stuck out her tongue. "When have you known me to procrastinate? Chemistry can't wait!"

"Wait… how did that Kenshin person agree to this again? I thought he hated your guts. "

"…I promised not to tell anyone what complex substance he actually made."

* * *

Kaoru ran over to the men's dorms all the way across campus. "Why do they make them so far apart," she muttered, "if they wanted to separate the sexes they might as well have made electrical fences."

She soon found building 14, and climbed the stairs to the fourth, the top, floor. Briskly, she knocked on the door.

"Whaddyu waaant.," a sleepy voice drawled from inside.

Kaoru fumed. "Just because you can make LSD doesn't mean you have to smoke it! Get up! Right now!"

The door opened. Much to her surprise, it was a tall, rugged, and shirtless man who opened the door. He blinked a few times and stared at her with bleary eyes. "Who you," he asked, drawling out the you in a loud yawn while scratching his chest, "you beer."

Kaoru blushed. "Um, I'm sorry, I think I have the wrong room… go back to your beer and um… sleep… bye…"

"Kaoru Kamiya?" Kenshin's voice floated from behind her. "You're here already?"

Kaoru turned around to see a surprised Kenshin, hands full of grocery bags. He gave a short chuckle and shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, I know I said I'd keep going with you and comply with you with all this chemistry stuff… but, um… don't you think it's a little…"

"Too much?" Kaoru piped in smiling. "Yeah I know but, I just can't resist the temptation! We need to start right away! A minute passed is a minute wasted!"

Kenshin's jaw dropped.

"So, Kenshin," Kaoru continued on without missing a beat, "where's your dorm?"

"Yo Kenshin," the shirtless man drawled, "gotsa beeer?"

Kenshin rolled his eyes. "This is my roomie. His name is Sanosuke, or Sano when he's too drunk to say his full name. Which is all the time."

"No'm not," Sano said, "I can say it… Sanooos…. Sanoooosuuu…"

Kenshin tossed him a can of beer. "Have fun."

Like a mole, Sanosuke immediately retreated back inside, where the only sound to be heard were satisfied sighs after every gulp.

"He's like this all the time, been here five years already and still has less credits completed than most freshman." He nodded to the door. "Well, since you're here already, might as well."

Kaoru walked in. It was easy to tell which side of the room belonged to whom. While one side had a neatly made bed, crisply stacked textbooks, and neatly labeled drawers, the other was simply a mountain of socks, shirts, and underwear, as well as a drunken lump under grubby covers.

Kenshin swiftly took a chair from Sano's side of the room, shaking off a few pairs of used boxers with one motion. "Yeah, sit." He opened the windows widely, allowing a cool breeze to sweep through the room. "And don't mind the stench, it's just…"

"Yeah," Kaoru said, looking over her shoulder, "I know."

Kenshin plopped down in front of his computer, and logged on. As Kaoru got out her notes, he scanned through the news. "Japan has agreed to lend many ancient art pieces to go on tour in China."

"That's great," Kaoru said, "it's about time people get a real view of what those wood prints really look like."

"Energy shortage, massive blackouts throughout Japan."

"I wouldn't doubt it, we haven't much resources and yet the industries use more and more energy."

"And nob… never mind."

Kaoru looked up from her organizing. "What?"

When Kenshin remained silent, she leaned over and read. "Nobel Prize to Eduard Rivierez for his accomplishment in biological chemistry…" she trailed off and sat back.

An awkward moment of silence passed, before Kaoru cleared her throat to clear the air. "Um, let's start…"

Kenshin turned around, and gave her a look. "Kaoru… I want to know just this; why are you so fixated on me getting back into the subject of chemistry?"

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably under Kenshin's gaze. "You know you have the genius for this… you can definitely do well in this field… and… well…"

Kenshin sighed. "Let's get to this thing we have to do then." He looked over to her book. "creation of new elements…"

"Well, since you created Californium…"

Kenshin groaned. "Megumi Takani."

"Yes… she told me that. So… how _did_ you create it?"

Kenshin groaned again. "You can't believe how many people have tried to solicit this information from me. So annoying…"

"Please?"

Kenshin glared silently at her.

"Remember what you made yesterday?"

He sighed. "Fine, fine, fine. Well, as you know, Californium is produced by bombarding electrons at – "

At that moment, the computer, clock, and computer screen all blacked out. What had been brightly lit just a second ago was now dark as death.

Kaoru cried out in surprise. Sano was heard falling out of bed and slurring, "Wheresa lights?"

A tiny light flickered on. It was Kenshin, holding a tiny flashlight. "CNN was right about these blackouts," he said, and spread the drapes apart more. "It's a good thing that tonight is a full moon."

Soon, their eyes all adjusted to the darkness. Kaoru gave a small laugh. "What luck, the night I come here the power goes out! So much for science." She got up and felt her way to the desk. "I guess I should leave now, get back."

"Kaoru, are the girls' dorms on the other side of the school?"

"Yes, but I know my way."

Kenshin scoffed. "No way are you getting across campus at an hour this late, especially when all the lights have been extinguished. Who knows what kind of prowlers might be out to take advantage of this blackout. I can't even walk you home, because this is the biggest source of light I have. You're going to stay for tonight."

"But Kenshin," Kaoru protested, "it's only about 9. I can manage it home." With that, she started to gather up her notebooks.

A firm hand stopped Kaoru, then quickly drew away. "Kaoru Kamiya, I may be impolite, crude, and have a drunken roommate, but even I will not allow a girl to walk across campus at night when it is completely dark. Don't argue," Kenshin said quickly, cutting off Kaoru's protests, "Unless the power goes on soon, which I doubt because the news said average blackout times were six hours, you are going to stay here until daylight comes."

"But…"

"I insist."

Kaoru sighed in defeat. "Fine." She set down her notebooks and sat down again after making a quick call to Misao on her cell phone telling her of the circumstances. "I never knew you cared so much about my safety, Sir Kenshin," she teased as Kenshin retrieved a futon from a corner.

"If you get kidnapped, the first suspect would be me, the surly, uncooperative delinquent. I'm trying to save my hide, not yours."

Kaoru laughed. "Sure, sure."

"No electricity at all," Kenshin said. "Might as well turn in early. If the power comes back on and you're still awake I'll walk you back."

"Okay…" Kaoru sat down on the futon and retied her hair. "Might as well, then."

Kenshin coughed politely. "Miss Kaoru, I think you're mistaken about where you're sitting down right now…"

Kaoru stood up suddenly. "I'm sorry… I didn't know I was doing something wrong… I thought… I'm sorry, I'll just doze on the chair."

A beam of light hit the bed on Kaoru's other side. "You take the bed. I'll bed on the futon tonight."

**END CHAPTER**

Yay end of chapter two. Once again… the way to make LSD is _completely_ made up, although some ingredients are correct. Don't worry I don't make drugs, so I wouldn't know how. Sure feels nice to pretend to be knowledgeable though. XD


	3. Chapter 3

**CHEMISTRY?**

CHAPTER 3

Kaoru opened her eyes, then shut them again when struck by blinding sunlight. What day was it? Oh, today is Saturday, she could sleep in today. She turned around and cuddled her pillow. Something is not right; Misao must have used the scentless detergent again. Next time, I'll use the spring showers scent…

"No, please, please don't do it…"

Kaoru sat up straight in bed. Except it wasn't her bed. She looked around frantically, trying to figure out where she was. Suddenly, she spotted a little figure on the floor, curled up inside white sheets.

Oh yeah, Kenshin's dorm.

The electronic clock on the bedside table flashed 12:15 over and over, begging to be set to the correct time. Kaoru glanced at her watch: 9:37. It sure took a long time for the power to come back on.

Then, she turned over to Kenshin again and giggled. He slept in the strangest manner, sheet wound tightly around his curled body, and held the pillow tightly in a tight embrace.

She yawned, stretched, then leaned in closer to Kenshin. She hadn't noticed before, but Kenshin had really beautiful hair. It was a deep wine red, which glittered into shades of tangerine under the strong sun. She wanted to wind a finger around that beautiful mane, but her mind kicked in. Don't do it Kaoru.

Under a lump of dirty laundry came a loud "whysit light now," followed by a shuffling and snoring.

Why not. Kaoru leaned over and ran a lock of Kenshin's hair around her index finger. It was so smooth and beautiful… Kaoru put a mental note to ask Kenshin what brand of shampoo he used. What a beautiful shade too, it almost seems unreal… but Kenshin didn't seem to be the kind to dye his hair.

"NOOO!" Kenshin suddenly screamed, making Kaoru crash back into the bed, bruising her ribs on the wooden edge. "Kenshin I'm sorry…"

Kenshin suddenly started tossing violently, as if in a seizure. "Don't do that, PLEASE, NO!"

"I'm sorry, I just – "

"I'M SORRY, PLEASE DON'T DO IT, I'LL DO ANYTHING! NO NO PLEASE NOOO DON'T!" Kenshin continued to toss violently. "WHY WHY WHY WHY HOW DARE YOU DO THIS WHY WHY…"

A man wrapped his arms around Kenshin, stabilizing his movement. It was Sano, looking sober and extremely serious. Though Kenshin continued to shake, Sano hugged Kenshin tightly to his chest, and patted his back in a firm, steady motion. "Shhh… it's okay, it's all over… shhh…"

Eventually, Kenshin quieted. Sano gave a stern look to Kaoru, who was sitting speechless on the ground. "Go take the washcloth draped over the door and wet it with cold water."

Kaoru stared at the now limp Kenshin. "What happened…"

"JUST GO!"

Kaoru quickly scurried up and took the washcloth, slipping into the men's bathroom down the hall. Luckily, no one was in there; she rinsed it over with icy cold water, then hurried back to the room. When she entered, Sano tucked Kenshin into his bed. "Here's the cloth…"

Sano took it from Kaoru and wiped the sweat off of Kenshin's face. He then folded it and placed it on his forehead. "This should reduce the headache when he wakes up." He looked up at Kaoru and nodded to the door. "We'll talk in the hall."

As soon as Sano shut the door behind them, Kaoru started firing off questions in a loud whisper. "What happened? Is he okay? What was he dreaming about? What…"

"Whoa, whoa, one question at a time, jo-chan."

"Jo-chan?" Kaoru glared. "Now is not a time to give nicknames."

"Whatever, jo-chan." Sano silenced her with a sharp glare.

"Right, fine." Kaoru sighed. "But Kenshin, what about him…"

"Okay, look." Sano took a deep breath. "I don't know where to start. Well… I don't even know all that much about his condition. He won't tell me why he has these nightmares of something… I don't know, of something horrible that happened. I don't think he knows, because he never remembers having these nightmares after waking. All I know is how to calm him down." He peeked into the room. "Kenshin seems more at peace now, you should go."

Kaoru peeked into the room timidly. "Will he be… okay?"

Sano nodded. "He always is."

Kaoru tiptoed in and gathered her things quietly. She then slipped out and started to go towards the elevator.

"Hey jo-chan!"

Kaoru turned around. "What?"

Sano popped open another can of beer, and took a long drink. "Don't tell anyone about Kenshin."

* * *

It had been two weeks. Kaoru had wanted to call Kenshin and ask how he was doing… but refrained from doing so. Instead, she engrossed herself in her studies, pulling off several perfects on her examinations. Now that the finals were over, she began to fervently study for next semester. 

But now… she slammed her book shut with a vengeance, kicking it in the path of bright afternoon sun. She just couldn't concentrate. Two weeks should be enough… right?

He picked up her cell phone and dialed in Kenshin's number. Then cancelled the call.

No. It's just too awkward to call. But…

Then in her hand, the phone started to vibrate and _Edelweiss _started to play in polyphonic tones. She looked at the phone. "…Kenshin?"

Did she accidentally press 'call' instead of cancel? Nervously, she pressed the receive button and held the phone up to her ear. "H – hello?"

"Hi, can I speak to Kaoru Kamiya?"

"This is she, it's my cell phone."

"Oh, hello Kaoru. This is Kenshin."

Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief that Kenshin was okay. "Oh, hi Kenshin, how are you doing?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering what happened to all that enthusiastic stalking that I've been missing. You didn't even say goodbye, shame on you."

Kaoru forced herself to laugh. "You wouldn't wake up, sleepyhead. And I've had killer finals these few days, I haven't even eaten."

"I thought so as well."

A long pause.

"So," Kenshin continued, "how's for continuing the whole science shebang."

"WHOA!" Kaoru almost fell backwards from her seat. "You're… you're…"

"Take it or leave it sister."

"… of course! What are you doing today?"

"Nothing."

"So…" Kaoru glanced at her clock. It was 4:36. "How about we meet in half an hour?"

"Sure. I'll see you then."

* * *

They arrived at the chemistry building at the same time. Kaoru sighed then put on a bright smile. "Nice to see you again." 

"Same here." Kenshin smiled, this time a real one, and gestured towards the door. "Ladies first."

They walked up the empty stairs in silence until they arrived at Megumi Takani's lab. Kaoru pushed the door open. Orange rays of declining sunshine filtered through the half opened blinds, creating diagonals on all the lab tables.

Both Kaoru and Kenshin donned goggles and lab coats. Then they looked at each other. "So," Kenshin said, "What now."

Kaoru thought for a moment. "Well, since you didn't _tell_ me how you made Californium… how about you _show_ me?"

Kenshin gave her a hard look for one moment.

Kaoru narrowed her eyes. "Kenshin Himura, don't you back out now…"

Kenshin laughed. "Alright, alright!"

Like a possessed genius, Kenshin started to gather various apparatus. By the time he had finished retrieving flasks, tests tubes, and a burner, the light had almost dimmed. Kaoru went to switch on the lights. They wouldn't work.

"Hey Kenshin, the power's out again."

"No problem," he said, continuing to set up.

"You sure?"

"Uh huh, I can do it." He stuck a length of pipe into a rubber stopper, putting it into a flask. He ignited the Bunsen burner so that a long blue flame flared out, then lit a candle. He looked over his other materials on the table. "Oh shoot, I need some potassium chloride and sulfuric acid."

He started to walk over to the cabinet. Kaoru stood up from her stool. "I'll get the sulfuric acid."

She walked over to the tall shelf, and looked from the bottom up. "Common bases… weak bases… strong bases… common acids… weak acids… strong acids." She looked at the line of bottles arranged on the top shelf. The room was now so dark, it was hard to distinguish the words printed neatly on the bottle, especially not from the dark tint of her goggles.

"Why does it have to be so high up?" Kaoru groaned.

"Because you're very short," Kenshin said matter-of-factly from behind her.

"You're not much taller," Kaoru retorted. She stood on her tiptoes and moved the goggles up towards her forehead. She squinted to make out the words in the bad lighting. "HCl… HBr… H2SO4!" She turned around towards Kenshin. "How concentrated do you want it?"

"As concentrated as you have."

Kaoru found the 25 molar solution, the most concentrated one available to students. Victoriously, she reached the bottle.

Unfortunately, she lost her balance. Her hand, just short of grabbing the bottle firmly, swiped the bottle off. It all seemed to happen in slow motion – the bottle fell down, lower and lower, struck her on the head, and shattered. Liquid poured all over her head and face, wetting her completely.

_I should really be taller_.

And then, her face started to burn, her hands started to burn, her scalp started to burn, and her eyes started to burn. She tried desperately to claw it off. All her training was forgotten… all Kaoru wanted was the pain to stop, for her eyes to stop going through this intolerable pain. She collapsed to the floor, eyes clamped shut, hands still futilely trying to wipe it all off.

"Kaoru? What's… KAORU! Oh my god, Kaoru!"

She could feel Kenshin run to her, but besides that, she could feel nothing more.

**END CHAPTER**

Sorry for taking relatively long to update this chapter. So yes, a NEW TWIST! Haha… unless you are a Korean Drama enthusiast, in which case this entire story will resemble one angst filled drama or another.

Comments and criticism appreciated. :


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